SpaceX has chosen Ship 25 and Booster 9 for the following Starship test flight as launch pad repairs and upgrades proceed.
Following the integrated test flight of Ship 24 and Booster 7, which at engine ignition created a “rock tornado” and excavated a big amount of cement and dirt from underneath the launch mount, SpaceX has been hard at work repairing the launch mount and is now installing a water deluge system.
This will probably be comprised of a water-cooled steel plate system during which jets of water will shoot upwards toward the engines. SpaceX is already testing this at their Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas.
Raptor test firing right into a water cooled steel plate 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oXUp5PGqbf
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 19, 2023
The hope here is that this will probably be enough to stop any more damage to the launch site and surrounding areas at engine ignition, to assist with this, SpaceX recently installed 2 massive water tanks that greater than double their water supply. While repairs to the launch mount and site overall proceed, SpaceX moved Ship 25 to the suborbital launch mount ahead of its static fire test campaign, during which they are going to test fire all 6 Raptor engines. Ship 25 has already passed through cryo-proof testing at their Masseys Testing Facility, which is just West down the road from Starbase.
One other step closer to Mars — the primary flight test of a completely integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket pic.twitter.com/SpaHjQELlO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2023
While Ship 25 doesn’t feature many upgrades over Ship 24, Booster 9 is far improved over Booster 7. One in all the main improvements is the switch from hydraulic thrust vector controls to electric thrust vector controls. This, together with all Raptors working during lift-off, should prevent the problems that occurred throughout the first test flight.
Once pad repairs and upgrades are complete, Elon Musk stated there will probably be a couple of month of testing the upgrades before moving Booster 9 to the orbital launch mount for its own static test campaign and eventual integration with Ship 25.
If Booster 9 performs as expected and there are not any issues with the launch pad, it should make way for SpaceX to perform test flights at an increased cadence. SpaceX definitely doesn’t have a hardware problem as they’ve vehicles in various stages of completion from Ship 25 to Ship 29, either complete or very nearly, and as much as Ship 35 undergoing stacking operations. On the Booster side, Booster 9 is accomplished with 2 cryo tests done, and Booster 10 through Booster 12 mainly just needs Raptor engine installation. Boosters 13 through 16 are currently of their early phases of construction.
